When it comes to flying at top speeds on two wheels, pedalling is only half of the equation. The rest is all about aerodynamics – the less drag, the faster you’ll fly. Don’t let the wind slow you down this cycling season, cut straight through it with our wide range of aero-optimised equipment, from bikes to bib shorts…
The fastest bikes on the planet
There’s a reason we’ve named our in-house wind tunnel the ‘Win Tunnel’, and that’s because our bikes are just so darn fast, winning more races over the past decade than we can possibly begin to count.
So far in 2019 we’ve collected 30 victories and counting across both the WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour thanks to our sponsored teams, Deceuninck-Quick Step, BORA-Hansgrohe and Boels-Dolmans. The majority of those wins have come aboard our speedy S-Works Venge and the super-versatile S-Works Tarmac, two bikes that champion aerodynamics above all else.
The Venge isn’t just your regular ‘aero bike’, it’s a bike that has redefined the meaning of speed. By using our in-house FreeFoil Library, we’ve managed to layup a carbon frame that’s not only incredibly lightweight, stiff and compliant but also unbelievably aero.
It doesn’t just stop at the frame, oh no, we’ve added a wealth of other features to the bike to make it even more suited to slicing through the air like a hot knife through butter. Integrated cockpits, tapered forks and no cables in sight make the front of this machine insanely slick, parting the air like Moses the Red Sea.
Where the Venge excels in bunch sprints and speedy criteriums, the Tarmac prefers big days out and the longer lumpier stage races, its lightweight and stiff carbon body helping it to glide up the steepest climbs and fly down death-defying descents.
The Tarmac takes a different approach to hone its aerodynamics than the Venge, but still achieves the same blisteringly quick results. An aero fork, dropped seat stays with aero tubes, and a D-shaped seatpost and seat tube help to make the Tarmac a whole 45 seconds faster over 40km compared to other lightweight bikes in the same category – now that’s fast.
Off all our road bikes, however, none are faster or built to reach as high a speed as the S-Works Shiv Disc whose sole purpose it is to punch through the air in the fastest time possible. It conquered Kona’s 112-mile Ironman bike leg a whole minute faster than the 2011 Shiv, a bike that set the course record against which all other bikes compared themselves. With crosswind-optimised forks, an integrated cockpit and aero-optimised Fuel cells, this bike sings as it sails through the wind, hungry for TT victories.
Look out for these three blisteringly quick machines as they line up for this spring’s Giro d’Italia. With Pascal Ackermann and Elia Viviani piloting the Venge in the sprints, and Patrick Konrad and Bob Jungels going for GC on the Tarmac and Shiv, we should be in store for yet another handful of top WT victories.
It’s not all about the bikes
Making your bike as aero as possible is only one half of the super-speed puzzle, the other focusses on your body itself and the clothes you wear. One of the largest contributing factors to drag – a cyclist’s worst nightmare – is loose-fitting clothing. Yes, it may encourage the airflow and keep you cool, but you’re not going to be setting any PBs or KOMs with what is essentially a parachute billowing out behind you.
Our S-Works Evade GC Skinsuits are among the fastest items of clothing on the planet, using a unique Dimplex fabric construction to funnel air efficiently around the rider. We’ve tested this skinsuit in the Win Tunnel and guess what, it’s a whole 96 seconds faster over 40km than our standard SL Pro Jersey and SL Pro Bib Shorts. To put that into perspective, switching to the skinsuit offers a bigger aero improvement than swapping from an older Tarmac model to the new super-aero S-Works.
Aside from the bike you ride and the clothes you wear, there’s not much else you can do to improve your aerodynamics, is there? Wrong, there are tons of other ways to become more aero, some that you could even consider as free speed. From shaving your legs to proper bike fits, addressing the finest levels of detail will sometimes have the biggest aero benefits, giving you more speed than even a bike upgrade could.
We’ve identified the biggest areas for aero improvement with our Win Tunnel, it’s now up to you to adopt them and complete your quest for unrivalled speed and unparalleled cycling efficiency. View our entire Venge range here and our Tarmac range here to get a more in-depth look at your next super-aero purchase.
